Eduardo Ivañez and Stephanie Romero
Ivañez facing life in prison for Romero's brutal murder at vacant southside house.
By H. Nelson Goodson
November 2, 2012
Milwaukee, WI - On Thursday, a Milwaukee County Jury found Eduardo Ivañez, 17, aka, "Smokey or Lalo" guilty of two felony counts for 1st-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse for the April 13, cold blooded and brutal murder of Stephanie Romero, 15, at 2512 W. Rogers St.
Ivañez, an alleged gang member had confessed to police that he had sex with Romero then strangled her until she became unresponsive and afterwards stabbed her while she was still alive inside a vacant house on Rogers St.
Ivañez will be sentenced on December 13 and is facing life in prison without parole and an additional 15 years. The criminal complaint states, Ivañez and Romero went to the house to drink and have sex. Once inside the house, she refused Ivañez sexual advances, which triggered the deadly sexual assault on Romero.
On April 13, an accomplice and two relatives of Ivañez later showed up at the vacant house, which was used by teenagers to smoke marijuana and drink both beer and alcohol. They asked Ivañez what had happened after noticing Romero on the floor bleeding from her face. Ivañez told them that Romero began to yell and scream at him and wouldn't stop. He then kicked and stomped Romero on the face and began to stab her several times in front of the teens. Ivañez and another suspect then dragged Romero's body to the bathroom.
Ivañez then noticed that Romero was still alive. He grabbed a knife again and then stabbed Romero in the chest, neck and left eye. Ivañez and the suspects left the house and took some items, including Romero's jewelry and cellphone.
Two days later, Ivañez who lived with his sister several houses from where Romero was killed decided to return to the house and moved Romero's body to an upstairs crawl space in the vacant house with the help of an accomplice. Apparently, Ivañez was showing off Romero's body and the homicide he had committed to other teenagers before Romero's body was found a week later by a different group of teenagers who told their school principal about the body. The principal then notified police.
Before the body was found, one of the suspects with Ivañez began to caress Romero's breasts because he became bored and Ivañez thought about having intercourse with Romero's body, according to the complaint.
Two juvenile suspects involved in Romero's death were referred to the juvenile court system for charges and a third suspect was released because the teenager left the vacant house and didn't participate in moving or hiding Romero's body, according to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.
Some of Ivañez supporters soon after created a Facebook page to "Free Smokie" because they strongly believed he was innocent and the page also be a stage to engage in controversial comments leading to threats of fights, beatings and insults towards Romero's supporters seeking justice for the victim.
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